OPINION

Ahead of elections, unholy alliances in Lebanon

By Sami Moubayed , Political analyst

The Lebanese opposition wrongly believed that the return of General Michel Aoun to Lebanon on May 7, three weeks before parliamentary elections, would serve their political interests and result in a new parliament overwhelmingly opposed to President Emile Lahoud.

Now that the Syrians are out, the opposition believed, Lebanon’s new parliament would eject Lahoud from office.

The opposition wanted to use Aoun to achieve this purpose, then get rid of him, because he returns to Lebanon with bitter scores to settle with everyone who kept him in exile for 15 years.

Lebanon’s liberation was brought about by many

In a statement made following a visit this week with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir in Bkirki, U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman pointed to two main factors as having led to the withdrawal of Syria’s military and intelligence personnel from Lebanon.

The ambassador cited the first factor as international determination as expressed in UN Security Council Resolution 1559, and said the second was the determination of a united Lebanese, who turned out en masse for a huge March 14 demonstration exactly a month after the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

Feltman’s statement comes on the heels of an informal debate through the media between Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, freshly returned from exile in Paris, and Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt over the liberation of Lebanon from Syrian hegemony.

Mikati: ‘Main challenge’ is preserving trust in Lebanon

Premier seeks to improve ties with private sector

By Karine Raad

BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Tuesday “the main challenge (for the current government) is to find the means to preserve trust in Lebanon” and improve ties with the private sector.

During a meeting with various ministers and prominent members of the economic, commercial and banking sectors, Mikati highlighted the importance of coordination between the government and the private sector to help rejuvenate the economy, particularly in the wake of former Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination.

Mikati said several goals need to be achieved despite the Cabinet’s short-term status.

Europe invites Lebanon to join parliamentary assembly

Politicians were ‘surprisingly welcoming’

By Nada Bakri

BEIRUT: A European parliamentary delegation has invited Lebanon to join the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA), a body with a mandate to bolster the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.

The delegation represents the EPP-ED group, the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats in the European Parliament and was headed by Edward McMillan Scott, the vice president of European Parliament.

Lebanon’s Tourism Ministry woos Arab travelers

Upcoming television campaign seeks to reassure Gulf tourists

By Will Rasmussen

BEIRUT: Lebanon is a place where diverse religious communities mingle in harmony, enjoying long, leisurely summer evenings at open-air restaurants along charming cobbled boulevards.

That, at least, is the Tourism Ministry’s message to the Gulf, to be aired in 30-second television advertisements in a new promotional campaign beginning next week.

Long focused on luring Europeans to Lebanon’s beaches and mountains, the Tourism Ministry is now looking eastward, worried that news of bombings and civil strife might deter deep-pocketed Gulf Arabs from visiting Lebanon this summer.

Lebanon must face up to its economic problems

Editor’s note: What follows are abridged extracts from the economic program of the Lebanese National Bloc, one of the country’s opposition groups, outlining what Lebanon must do to overhaul its economy and place it on a stable platform for future investment and development. The party proposes a series of measures to reduce public debt and stimulate the economy along with plans to improve the country’s education system and improve women’s rights. Its proposals are a timely reminder of the many economic problems facing Lebanon, which to date few politicians have seen fit to discuss during the current election campaign.

A number of our proposals have been discussed by previous governments and others but never implemented due to the archaic nature of Lebanese politics, made worse by 30 years of Syrian domination, a situation that thwarted any post war national growth. Simply by eliminating waste, fighting corruption and implementing already approved projects, Lebanon can make an immediate change for the better. However, this will not happen unless competent and credible leaders make it happen.

Analysis: Lebanon poll unites ex-rivals

BEIRUT, Lebanon — “It is very hard to accept. But if this is the price to protect Lebanon’s unity, I will vote for the Christian Lebanese Forces candidate though it is against my heart,” said Salah Haidar, a 45-year-old Druze from the Shouf Mountains.

Haidar, like many Druze and Sunni Muslims, has found it hard to accept that their leaders, in a last-minute compromise, included Christian candidates on their electoral lists. For them Christians symbolize the bloody 1975-90 civil war.

On Sunday, Druze leader Walid Jumblat announced that his eight-member list from the Shouf Mountains for the June 12 election will include George Adwan, a known member of the Lebanese Forces militia that battled Druze fighters in the “War of the Mountains” in 1983. 
     
Jumblat said Adwan’s selection did not only reflect an electoral alliance with the Lebanese Forces but also “an eagerness (to preserve) the big national reconciliation” that was achieved in 2001 when Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir visited the Druze-controlled Shouf Mountains region.

Slain ex-PM’s son sees opposition landslide in Lebanon polls

BEIRUT (AFP) – Saad Hariri, whose father Rafiq was assassinated in a February bomb blast that revitalized Lebanon’s anti-Syrian opposition, predicted that it would win a landslide in parliamentary elections later this month.

In an interview with AFP, Hariri pledged a “white revolution against the police state which governed Lebanon during 15 years” — a reference to Syria and its allies.

“The opposition will win between 80 and 90 seats,” in the 128-member parliament in the elections due to kick off on May 29, he said.

Hariri, 35, announced on Sunday a list of 19 candidates for Beirut’s three multi-member constituencies, which will be the first to go to the polls in Lebanon’s phased elections.

What is Public Debt ?

Public debt (“Government debt”, “national debt”) is money owed by government, at any level (central government, federal government, national government, municipal government, local government, regional government). It’s possible to consider this an indirect debt of the tax payers.

Government debt can be divided into internal debt, owed to lenders within the country, and external debt, owed to foreign lenders. It consists of government bonds, bank loans, and according to some measures, unfunded liabilities such as pension plan payments and goods and services the government has contracted for but not yet paid.

Another common division of government debt is by duration: Short term debt is generally considered to be five years or less, long term is more than ten years. Medium term debt falls in the middle.

EU poll observers start Lebanon mission

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The European Union’s Elections Observation Mission kicked off in Lebanon Monday as 26 observers were deployed to various parts of the country.

“Our election observation mission will be made up of 100 observers. Already 26 long-term monitors were deployed this morning across the country,” Mission Chief Jose Ignacio Salafranca of Spain told reporters.   
     
The observers were dispatched to Lebanon as a result of an agreement between the EU and Lebanese government.